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"I loved playing Snoke. Snoke was a great character to play. I never thought I'd be coming back into the universe to play another character, but when Tony Gilroy approached me and said, 'Look, will you come and play Kino Loy?' I was like, 'Is this going to be confusing to everybody?' There are so many Snoke theories flying about, is this really just going to throw fuel on the fire?"
―Andy Serkis[2]

Andy Serkis (born April 20, 1964) is an English actor who played Snoke in the film Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens and reprised the role in Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi. He then lastly played Palpatine's imitation of Snoke in Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker. His involvement was first announced on April 29, 2014.[3] He later portrayed Kino Loy in the 2022 Disney+ television series Andor, making his first appearance in the eighth episode, "Narkina 5."

Serkis is best known for his various motion capture roles, such as Gollum/ Sméagol in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, the titular character in Peter Jackson's 2005 film King Kong, Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes, and Captain Haddock in The Adventures of Tintin. He is also notable for roles such as Ulysses Klaue in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Alfred Pennyworth in the 2022 film The Batman, and for directing the 2021 movie Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

Biography[]

Sequel trilogy[]

Andy Serkis was born on April 20, 1964.[1] He played Snoke in the Star Wars sequel trilogy films Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens[4] and Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi[5] using performance capture VFX.[6] He thought the anthology film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was a great film,[7] and he liked how it felt like real grit and sweat.[8] Serkis was a huge fan of the film.[7] Serkis later provided Snoke's voice in the film Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker.[9]

Andor television series[]

"I hope you're prepared to hear 'One way out' for the rest of your life."
Amy Ratcliffe[10]

Tony Gilroy,[11] the executive producer and writer of the Andor television series,[12] talked to Serkis for a while[11] and explained what he wanted to do with the character Kino Loy and a particular segment of the world.[7] Gilroy tried to line Serkis up for the role, but he did not know if the actor would do it or not. His casting was not affected by his previous role as Snoke.[11] Serkis' only problem was he thought his appearance would cause uproar and confusion for the audience, and they would believe there is a connection between Snoke and Loy. He thought the idea of Loy was interesting and intoxicating because he is at the opposite side of the spectrum as Snoke and shows the human perspective of someone coping with the Galactic Empire crushing their soul.[7] One of the reasons Serkis was eager for the role was because he wanted to play a character opposite Diego Luna, the actor who played Cassian Andor.[8] After getting through the quagmire around the Snoke theories, Serkis quickly committed to the role.[7]

Andor Kino Loy Poster

Andy Serkis as Kino Loy in his character poster

Serkis said he really fell in love with his character. After Serkis received the pitch from Gilroy and read the scripts for the three-episode arc,[8] he created a backstory for Loy in which he had a family and was a factory worker, shop steward, and a foreman. He stood up for workers' rights, but he was seen as a troublemaker and unpatriotic in a way. After ending up in prison, he forgot about his cause and became a tough shell of his former self, only wanting to get through the day.[7] Loy also wanted to get out and return to his family.[13] Serkis wanted the backstory to show that the Empire knocked the integrity out of Loy.[7] He believed that Loy was brainwashed by the prison system, but he still knew he was imprisoned unfairly. The actor equated the prison to places around the world where people are in servitude or forced labor to build something. He figured that Loy initially clashed with Cassian Andor because Andor's wildness and untamed quality juxtaposed his own tameness.[13] Serkis was excited by Loy and Andor gradually becoming united in the show. He figured that Loy's initial toughness was intentionally established so that it could break down gradually as he finds himself.[8]

Serkis was not self-conscious about sounding like Snoke. Serkis had big ideas on what he wanted to do with Loy in the series. In one of the rehearsals,[11] Serkis tried his father's mild Middle Eastern accent, which he thought was grounded and worked well. It was decided that the accent would overcomplicate things[7] and did not fit. Director Toby Haynes and the crew wanted every actor to use their own accent to provide realism, so the accent was dropped in favor of Serkis' own accent. Serkis also tried to find the correct kind of tonal quality that fit Loy's class level.[11]

Narkina 5 bts filming

Andy Serkis and Diego Luna in the Narkina 5 set

According to executive producer Sanne Wohlenberg, the scenes in the Narkina-5 prison were the last to be shot for Andor Season One.[14] Serkis talked about the films The Shawshank Redemption and Cool Hand Luke on set, but the actors could not have any personal effects.[13] The actors would walk on metal plates for weeks with bare feet, which drained their energy. Serkis said the set, costume design, and prison outfits worked on him psychologically and took away his sense of identity.[15] He felt that the set design was phenomenal in the way that it make him feel like he was in a strange kind of experiment.[8] There were many scenes where Serkis and other barefoot actors would spend hours waiting in long tubes in the prison. The tubes would get smelly and rank because the doors were sealed at the ends, so the actor viewed the experience like walking into a big test tube.[7]

Serkis and the actors would have to stand because there was no room for private space, making him feel incarcerated.[15] He found it incredible to intimately get to work with Diego Luna due to viewing him as a major talent and gifted actor and storyteller.[8] Serkis enjoyed performing the "never more than twelve" line, viewing it as a beautifully written transitional moment for Loy. He believed that Loy had a difficult time giving the rousing speech[7] in the episode "One Way Out"[16] because he knew he could not swim away from the prison. Serkis thought that Loy had a wonderful arc, and he enjoyed going on a journey with his character.[7] Serkis attended Celebration Europe in April, 2023.[17]

Works[]

Filmography[]

Year Title Series Contribution(s)
2015 Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens Snoke
2017 Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi Snoke
2019 Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker Snoke
2022 "Narkina 5" Andor Kino Loy[18]
2022 "Nobody's Listening!" Andor Kino Loy[19]
2022 "One Way Out" Andor Kino Loy[16]

Bibliography[]

Year Title Contribution(s)
2018 The Last Jedi Read-Along Storybook and CD Snoke

Sources[]

Notes and references[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 This Week in Star Wars logo This Week! in Star Wars A Sneak Peek at Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian, Join The Star Wars Show Book Club, and More! on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link)
  2. Andy Serkis Talks About His Surprise Return To Star Wars In Andor [Exclusive Interview] by Scott, Ryan on /Film (November 3, 2022): "I loved playing Snoke. Snoke was a great character to play. I never thought I'd be coming back into the universe to play another character, but when Tony Gilroy approached me and said, "Look, will you come and play Kino Loy?" I was like, "Is this going to be confusing to everybody?" There are so many Snoke theories flying about, is this really just going to throw fuel on the fire?" (archived from the original on November 6, 2022)
  3. StarWars Star Wars: Episode VII Cast Announced on StarWars.com (backup link)
  4. Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens
  5. Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi
  6. StarWars Andor | Season 1, Episode 8 - Trivia Gallery on StarWars.com (backup link) (Slide 2)
  7. 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 ‘Andor' Star Andy Serkis Talks Episode 10's Emotional Moment and Dreading Snoke-Kino Fan Theories by Davids, Brian on The Hollywood Reporter (November 9, 2022) (archived from the original on November 9, 2022)
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 StarWars The Tragedy of Kino Loy: Anddy Serkis on His Return to Star Wars in Andor on StarWars.com (backup link)
  9. Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker
  10. SWYTlogo Star Wars Celebration LIVE! 2023 - DAY 3 on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (April 9, 2023) (backup link)
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 ‘Andor' Director Toby Haynes Talks That Forest Whitaker-Stellan Skarsgard Scene: “It Was a Career Highlight” by Davids, Brian on The Hollywood Reporter (October 28, 2022) (archived from the original on October 29, 2022)
  12. Andor logo new Andor — "Kassa"
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 Meet Kino Loy: Andy Serkis Unveils His New Star Wars Character by Breznican, Anthony on Vanity Fair (October 26, 2022) (archived from the original on October 26, 2022)
  14. YouTube Were the Prison Episodes TOO Dark for Star Wars? on the Star Wars Explained YouTube channel: "The prison episodes of Star Wars Andor were very bleak for a Star Wars story. I got the chance to ask the writer of the arc about the balance between darkness and hope. Here is what he had to say." (backup link)
  15. 15.0 15.1 'Andor': Andy Serkis on How the Prison Set Messed With His Head by Amin, Arezou on Collider (November 4, 2022) (archived from the original on November 4, 2022)
  16. 16.0 16.1 Andor logo new Andor — "One Way Out"
  17. StarWars Ewan McGregor Confirmed to Attend Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023 on StarWars.com (backup link)
  18. Andor logo new Andor — "Narkina 5"
  19. Andor logo new Andor — "Nobody's Listening!"

External links[]

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